Two children bitten by sharks in city's first attack in 70 years

Long Island Press reports that one of the victims, a 13-year-old boy, was attacked while boogie boarding; the boy stumbled out of the water, when he was seen by a lifeguard. The tooth is now being analyzed to determine the source of the attack.

Ms Rogers said authorities had not confirmed the wounds to be shark bites, but said the Suffolk police marine bureau was waiting for the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to identify the tooth.

As Chris Berger, the president of OCEARCH, a non-profit dedicated to great white shark research, told us during the great Mary Lee madness a few years ago, the majestic animals "have been cruising around crowded beaches for a very long time and clearly have no interest in humans".

"Shark encounters in swimming areas are rare on Fire Island", the NPS spokeswoman added. "He had blood on his leg", a lifeguard said. Chief lifeguard Craig Amarando said the boy had puncture wounds and that a shark tooth was found inside the boy.

The two Fire Island beaches where the incidents happened are about 4 miles apart.

The boy was taken to Southside Hospital.

"It was a 10-inch orangey body and then there was a fin and then I got out, and my leg was bloody", Lola said. His daughter, who concurred with her father's assessment, said she had come through the incident intact. Beaches within the Town of Islip and all Fire Island National Seashore beaches are closed for at least the day in the wake of the attack.

"Everyone started to panic, all the kids were like what's happening and all the parents were like, we're gonna leave and they just left", said worker Amanda Vasile-Cozzo.

"I thought it was a dream", she said. Witnesses believe it was a sandbar shark around 2 feet long. "To put it in perspective, there are more toaster fatalities annually than shark attacks-yes, it's more unsafe to make toast". Donaldson said the bite didn't feel sharp, but it shocked him.